King Rama V in Thong Nai Pan

King Chulalongkorn was the fifth monarch of Siam in the Chakri Dynasty, also known as King Rama V. The present King Bhumibol is of the same dynasty and is called Rama IX.

King Rama V was the monarch that saved the Kingdom from partition under colonial powers. He also attempted to reduce corruption in the administration, abolished slavery and did what he could to modernize the Kingdom while preserving the religious traditions of the country.

He was the first monarch of Thailand to properly tour his Kingdom. He bought a steam ship and spent time visiting the islands in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.

One of the islands that he frequently visited during his reign (1868 – 1910) was Koh Phangan. As several websites about the island mention, King Rama V was particularly smitten with Than Sadet. He went to the waterfall and the beach in this area a number of times. He even carved his initials into a rock by the waterfall. This started a trend: both King Rama VII and the present King Rama IX have also carved their initials into giant rocks by the river bed.

What is less well known is that King Rama V also spent time in the Thong Nai Pan area. He visited Than Prawes waterfall and spent time in the villages of Noi and Yai. As with Than Sadet, he commemorated his fondness for Thong Nai Pan by carving his initials into a large rock in what is now Thong Nai Pan Noi village.

If you are walking from the beach through the village it is on the right. You go past Rasta Baby and over the bridge. The famous rock is next to the building that is at present an ice cream shop. Sadly there is construction work going on at the moment obscuring the rock from the road.

Perhaps if more people expressed an interest in seeing the rock with King Rama V’s initials on the local community would make more of an effort to preserve the area around the rock and make it a tourist attraction.

The Path

When tourists first visited Koh Phangan in the 1970s there was no road to Thong Nai Pan. The last part of the journey from Thongsala had to be done on foot or by boat. Footpaths were important travel routes. One route that has sadly disappeared in Thong Nai Pan is the path over the rocky headland that divides the northern Thong Nai Pan Noi from its larger southern sister, Thong Nai Pan Yai. It is a path that saves a lot of time. The alternative is to take the main road up the hill and down the other side. The present journey on foot between the two beaches takes about 30 minutes.

Panviman has occupied the Noi side of the peninsula for over 15 years and has had an impact on the accessibility of the peninsula. They have also recently secured a spot on yai beach at the bottom of the rocks. Previously they have built walk ways partly around the peninsula for guests to access villas and take in the scenery.

There used to be a very faint track that if you slipped quietly along let you take the short cut from one beach to the other. This path is now mostly used by Panviman staff. The development of this great spot straddling the two beaches seems to have closed the rock-route between the beaches.

On the rocks around Panviman there used to be a colony of giant lizards that you could spot sunning themselves most days. There numbers have dwindled.

The future surely for Panviman is to make the hotel one that offers its guests easy access to not one, but two fantastic beaches. It is a unique selling point.

The End Bar and Restaurant

The End is a stylish looking bar and restaurant on Thong Nai Pan Yai beach in front of Candlehut Resort. The publicity photos showing this long ellipsis of wooden decking on the beach with orange bean bags make the bar / restaurant look impressive. Sadly, looks can be deceptive. Early reports suggest both the food and the service are lousy.

Candlehut Resort in Yai has some better quality bungalows on the beach. They have moved away from the original backpacker style of Koh Phangan and offer a more boutique experience. However, over the years the accommodation has started to look somewhat shabby. The difference between the stunning publicity photos of the bungalows and the reality is marked.

The same point could be made of The End Beach Bar and Restaurant: the sales photos of the place make it look better than it really is. The main complaints about The End concern the staff that are inattentive and unfriendly, and the food which is not very good for the money.

The food takes a long time to come out and when it does it is disappointing. The calamari is too rubbery; the Caesar salad has far too much cream and not enough chicken or lettuce; and the Thai chicken with cashew nuts has no real Thai spicy taste to it.

All this is a shame because The End has a great location with the sea in front and the mountains behind. The bean bag seating is cool and there is a water feature with blue lighting that has a funky effect at night.

The End Beach Bar and Restaurant could be so much better than it actually is. No doubt its cool appearance and prime location will pull in plenty of first time punters. It is also not to be doubted that few will return.

I suspect that when TA (that over-rated corporate site) eventually pulls in reviews about The End the management might start to care a bit more about the service and food at the new Candlehut bar. Until then stay away.